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Masterplan
Masterplan is the fourth studio album by American singer Richie McCartney. It was released on May 22, 2012, by Fach Records. Masterplan is a pop album with elements of rock and electronica, as well as a dark vibe. With strong and outrageous lyrics, mainly about sex, this was album brought a sexier Richie compared to the usual. Masterplan caused a lot of controversy by containing a lot of controversial lyrics because the singer was considered a teen idol at that time. However, critics approved this more adult approach mentioning lyrics like "Relax" ("Stop, wait a minute / Slow down a little / Cause I don't want to go yet blow this/ Stop, wait a minute/ Slow down a little / Cause I don't want to go yet / Baby relax") which is about controlling the pleasure and not cumming. McCartney's image was also sexier and provocative, with him appearing with little clothes in performances, or wearing latex. This album features artists like Karen Hudson and Karrin, flop artists who were current at that time. The album debuted atop of the charts in the US, selling almost 340,000 copies due to the success its lead single "Out In Space". Background and development McCartney started recording the album on December 2011 and finished it in five months. It was done right after he finished Spotlight's tour, with no pauses for vacation. The singer was seen in and out from studios many times day after day. The album had about 44 demos by the end of its recording process but only 18 made the final cut. Fach Records wanted to keep the big success from McCartney's previous album but change his image for something more mature. Dean Miller, his manager, even said in an interview: "Richie's new album is everything fans hoped for years. It's an adult and mature Richie, who expresses himself in the new songs and really sings about what he's thinking". Promotion Masterplan had a very big promotion, including performances on Dancing with The Sarts, MTV Video Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards. McCartney released five singles from the album and promoted them heavily. He also went on the Masterplan Tour to support this record. During the promotion McCartney, who was always criticized for using lip synch, surprised his fans by singing live sometimes. Singles "Out In Space" was released as the lead single from the album on March 11, 2012. The song received a massive promotion and had two music videos. It peaked atop of the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming one of the biggest hits of that year. It also peaked at number one in Australia and Canada, and reached the top 3 in the UK and some countries in Europe. "F*** Off" was released as the second single in May 28, 2012. It reached good numbers around the globe, but was censored by American radios because of its explicit lyrics - and the label didn't release a clean version of the song. It peaked at number 32 in the US Billboard Hot 100, and inside the top in the UK and Canada. "Downtown" was released as the third single on August 11. It had moderate success in most countries, peaking in the top 10 in the US, Canada, Australia, Mexico, and Italy. "Never Close Our Yes" was the fourth and final single, released on September 30. It failed to make an impact on the charts, not reaching the top 10 in any countries around the world. It was, however, praised by fans and critics by the time of the album's release. "If I Had You" was also released as the fourth and final single on September 30, but also failed the make it to the top 10 in any charts. Critical reception Masterplan received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 64, based on 27 reviews. David Browne of The Independent found McCartney's increasingly provocative image to be unnatural. AllMusic's Nikki Tranton complimented the production of the songs, but questioned if McCartney was ready to establish herself as a grown man in the music industry. Sal Cinquemani of The New York Times agreed, writing that although "Masterplan fills his role of guilty pleasure (the disc certainly satiates more than the stunted growth of last year's Spotlight), it's time for McCartney to quit being such a typical trouble boy and cook something up that will satisfy the hype-machine." Entertainment Weekly's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave a positive review, feeling that the album "strives to deepen McCartney's persona" and proves he knows what to do while the teen pop phenomena pass on". Similarly, a reviewer from Spin commented that the project was "a nicely varied, wholly satisfying collection". Chris Heat of The Guardian praised Richie for "using this opportunity to take the odd risk and adds a welcome edge to his sound." Track listing